KEITH ENRIQUEZ/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Michael
Shaminsky protests against Friday’s air strike on Iraq in
front of the Federal Building in Westwood Saturday.
By Scott B. Wong
Daily Bruin Staff
As thousands of Iraqis protested Friday’s air strike on
Baghdad, nearly 60 people gathered in front of the Federal Building
on Saturday afternoon, demanding the United States lift sanctions
and stop the bombing.
In the ensuing days of the attack, President Bush has been
criticized and likened to his father, the former president who
launched an all-out war in the Middle East from 1990 to 1991, after
Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein invaded neighboring Kuwait.
“On Feb. 14, 1991, Bush Sr. dropped a bomb on a bomb
shelter in Iraq killing 1,400 women and children while they were
sleeping,” said Magda Miller, a protest organizer with the
Save the Iraqi Children Coalition. “Now it looks like his son
is a serial killer and is trying to keep up with his daddy’s
record.”
For Miller, the strike signified continuance of the undeclared
war against Iraqis that has lasted 10 years.
“We’re protesting the genocidal bombing of Iraq with
the excuse of attacking military targets,” Miller said.
On Friday, 24 American and British planes struck five Iraqi
military targets located five to 20 miles from Baghdad, according
to U.S. military officials. The official Iraqi news service, INA,
reported two civilians killed and 20 wounded.
Bush was in Mexico meeting with President Vicente Fox early
Friday afternoon when the attack occurred. During Friday’s
press conference, he called the mission “routine” and
said it was one that he had authorized.
“Saddam Hussein has got to understand that we expect him
to conform to the agreement that he signed after Desert
Storm,” Bush said. “We’re going to watch very
carefully as to whether or not he develops weapons of mass
destruction, and if we catch him doing so, we’ll take the
appropriate action.”
Though there have been more than 60 air strikes on targets in
the no-fly zones this year, the capital city of Baghdad has not
come under attack since December 1998.
Both Friday’s strike and the December attack required
executive approval since they concentrated on an area outside of
the no-fly zones ““ one in the north and one in the south of
Iraq ““ established by the U.S. and Britain to ensure Iraq
does not develop nuclear arms.
Lt. General Greg Newbold said at a Pentagon press conference
Friday that the attack was carefully planned and orchestrated.
“The military operation was conducted because the Iraqi
air defenses had been increasing both their frequency and the
sophistication of their operations,” Newbold said during the
conference. “Both the frequency and the more sophisticated
command and control of their operations had yielded an increased
threat to our aircraft and our crews.”
Though Hussein has defied American and British enforcement of
the no-fly zones, one protester said the fault lies entirely with
the Bush administration.
“The Bush administration is eager to show it will be tough
on Iraq, but bombing and sanctions won’t bring
democracy,” said Gillian Russom, a graduate student in the
teacher education program, at the protest.
“They haven’t done so in the last 10 years; they
only target the Iraqi people,” she added.
Russom, a member of the International Socialist Organization,
demanded the U.S. lift economic sanctions on Iraq, which the United
Nations has imposed since the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Sanctions
have led to a lack of food and basic medicine and increased
leukemia and childhood cancer rates, Russom said.
“Chlorine is banned by sanctions because it could be used
to make chemical weapons, but it’s also necessary to purify
water,” she said.” Only one-third of Iraq’s water
is potable.”
Sherman Austin, 17, a senior at Independent Opportunities for
Learning High School in Los Angeles, said it is important for young
people to take an active stance on the bombings.
“If we don’t react, people won’t be aware,
people won’t solve the problem,” said Austin, who is
also a member of ISO. “It’s important that young people
act for a voice and take action.”
Austin protested the presidential inauguration at Pershing
Square in downtown Los Angeles last month and during the Democratic
National Convention over the summer.
West L.A. police called the protests “nice and
quiet.” Lt. Charles Duke, the commanding officer, reported no
arrests.